The Jackson Area Career Center’s FIRST Robotics team – the Jacktown Vectors – is looking for students and adults with diverse talents to be part of this year’s robot build and competitions.
Organizers will hold an informational meeting for interested students, parents, and mentors on Monday, November 9th, at 6:00 p.m. at the Career Center.
“This is open to all high school students who are interested in science, technology, engineering, and math,” said John Riedeman, Career Center instructor and FIRST Robotics team coordinator.
Students interested in designing, building and problem-solving with an engineering focus will enjoy this group, but also needed are students interested in business and communications to promote the team, create a web site, create graphics, produce t-shirts and banners, and organize fund raising activities.
Adults are needed as mentors to coach students, and business professionals are needed as team sponsors.
The robot building is scheduled to start Saturday, January 9, with completion in late February. Work sessions will be held after school at the Career Center, from 3:00 to 6:00 pm., Monday-Friday, with some possible Saturday meetings.
The team will use creativity and ingenuity to build a robot that responds to remote commands and carries out tasks based on this year’s FIRST Robotic guidelines, all within an environment that encourages “gracious professionalism.” Teams start with a box of standard parts and rules, and have six weeks to prepare a robot for competition.
Teams from across Michigan compete at scheduled regional and statewide competitions to see which robots can best accomplish the tasks of the competition. More details on timelines and meeting dates will be covered during the Nov. 9 informational meeting.
For more information about the Jacktown Vectors, visit www.jacktownvectors.org; for more on FIRST Robotics, visit www.usfirst.org.